It’s not just the victims who suffer at the hands of merciless serial killers – often the innocent family of the killer is also left at a loss.

Such was the case with 48-year-old Jen Carson, who learned at the age of eight that her father, Michael Beer Carson, was a ruthless killer who killed at least three people in California with his stepmother, Susan Barnes.

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The duo were notorious as the San Francisco Witch Killers, as they believed their victims possessed supernatural powers.

In an interview, Jen spoke about how their evil crimes had a devastating effect on her life People.

“Until the age of nine, I saw every adult as a potential murderer. The whole world terrified me. I was also afraid that I would grow up and kill people,” she said.

“I want people to understand that this type of shame is so corrosive. And that’s why I’m telling my story.”

Many of the most global notorious killers once led a relatively normal life with wives and children who were unaware of his heinous crimes.

Here we take a look at other children of deadly monsters.

“Secondary Victims”

Melissa Moorefather Keith Jesperson is currently serving three life sentences for strangling at least eight women to death, although he once claimed his victims numbered 185.

Jesperson was called the Happy Face Killer because he left pictures of smiley faces next to the bodies of his victims.

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In 2010, Melissa revealed that as a child she saw her father, whom she described as a sociopath, torture and kill kittens and felt that he had “another side”.

Speaking in a 2015 interview, she said: “We [children of serial killers] are secondary victims of crime. We bear this shame and want to remove it.”

She added: “I feel like I’m related to my father in a way, but I didn’t cause pain. But knowing that my father caused pain hurts me.”

Melissa also opened up about how she had to seek counseling in an attempt to overcome the trauma of being related to a cold-blooded killer.

Last year, she revealed that Jesperson, now 67, sent her letters from prison – including one asking why he wasn’t invited to her wedding and telling her the marriage would not go ahead.

“I Surrendered My Murderer Father”

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After decades of suspicion about her father Edward Wayne Edwards was the killer, Amy Balasio finally plucked up the courage to start her own investigation in 2009.

She remembers how her father, who physically abused her mother, was obsessed with murders and police investigations – he often had clippings from local crime reports and called the police to their investigations.

Edwards moved his family every six months in the middle of the night, leaving no trace behind.

After months of digging, Amy eventually discovered that her father had killed at least five people and turned him in to the police.

Children are not stupid. There were corpses. No matter where we lived, someone was always killed

Amy Balasio

After Edwards’ arrest, further investigation revealed that he had killed more than 15 people.

He was sentenced to death by lethal injection in August 2011, but died of natural causes four months ago.

In 2018, Amy said: “Kids are not stupid. There were dead bodies. Wherever we lived, someone was always killed.

“Throughout this whole process, you’re still hoping that he’s not the monster I think he is, that he’s just my father and has a temper.”

“Mom blamed me”

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Together Fred and Rose West committed rape, abuse, incest and killed 10 peopleincluding some of their own children, most of which takes place at their home in Gloucester.

Investigating their horrific crimes, detectives discovered that they were abducting girls from bus stops, holding them captive for days and torture them before ending his life.

Their atrocities included Rose murdering Charmaine West – Fred’s stepdaughter from a previous marriage – and their daughter Heather Ann.

Fred also raped his own daughter Anne Marie and forced her to work as a prostitute.

In 1999, she called me hateful names and blamed everything on me. She said I should have died when I was born

Stephen West

The couple had nine children between them, incl Stepanwho was jailed in 2002 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his mid-30s.

In 2021, Steven recounted the last conversation he had with his mother 20 years ago before he stopped her.

“In 1999, she called me hateful names and blamed me for everything. She said I should have died when I was born and stuff like that. It was a shame,” he recalled.

“She was a callous, evil, spiteful, vindictive, manipulative person among them. He was just a minion in a way. He was just doing what she wanted him to do.

“I’m not saying he didn’t get any pleasure out of it. I’m sure he got it. But mostly the torture was caused by her.”

Rose, 69, is now serving a life sentence at HMP New Hall, but Fred died in 1995 after taking his own life while in HMP detention center in Birmingham.

“Living with a Psychopath”

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Dennis Raderwho went on a 30-year killing spree, took pleasure in describing himself as a BTK killer – meaning bind, torture and kill.

He 10 people died in Wichita, Kansas, and sent taunting letters to police and the media detailing his heinous crimes.

The letters became his downfall as they led to his arrest in 2005 – when questioned he told police that the “material evidence” was under the floorboards of the home he shared with his wife Paula and their two children, including Kerry Rawson.

In 2014, Carey said the family had no idea he was behind the brutal murders.

Five years later, she explained: “My mum and I said from the start that if we had known, we would have run out the door screaming and run to the police.

“It’s not like you’re going to sit around and cook dinner for a guy after you find out he’s killed 10 people. [We] didn’t know we were living with a psychopath.

“They’re really good at hiding … I mean, my mom lived with him for 34 years, and 90, 95 percent of the time he was a good, loving father and husband.”

The 77-year-old monster is serving 10 consecutive life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.

“Loved and supported”

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During the 80s and 90s. Gary Ridgway killed about 80 women and was able to hide behind his reputation as a loving family man.

His son, Matthew, described his father as a loving and supportive man who did routine things with him, such as going fishing and bike rides.

He often took women with him Matthew in the car to lure his victims and avoid suspicion.

The vile monster then killed them and had sex with their corpses – in the documentary he claimed his young son was with him for at least one of the murders.

Matthew was 26 when his father was first arrested in November 2001. The 74-year-old man is now serving a life sentence without parole.

Now in his 40s, Michael lives a secluded life in the San Diego area.

A criminal family

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Within two months of January 2002, Ward Weaver III killed a 12-year-old girl and her 13-year-old classmate in Fairfield, California.

Weaver had a tumultuous childhood, as his own father, Ward Weaver Jr., was convicted of the couple’s double murder in 1984.

During the younger Weaver’s trial in 2002, his stepson Francis, who both believed they were biologically related, was praised and hailed as a hero for providing witness statements that helped catch the killer.

The family’s history of violence continued in 1998, when Francis was suspended from school for choking another student and charged with aggravated assault after firing a rifle at a car full of teenagers the following year.

In 2016, he found himself in more trouble with the law and was sentenced to life in prison for shooting a drug dealer in the face in 2014.